Terminology

Bisexual: A bisexual person has significant feelings of attraction for both men and women. These feelings may be stronger for one sex or the other.
DL: "Down Low"; people of color (African American and Latino/a), typically men, that have sex with someone of the same sex, but do not define themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual.
Gay: A synonym for homosexual. Usually refers to a homosexual male, but can also refer to a homosexual female, as well as the general community of homosexual, i.e., the gay community. Can be used as a noun or adjective, but the more accepted use is as an adjective. "He is a gay man," not "He is a gay."
Heterosexual: A man or woman whose feelings of attraction are for someone of the opposite sex.
Homosexual: A homosexual person is a man or woman whose feelings of attraction — mental, physical, emotional, spiritual — are for someone of the same sex. The word homosexual was first used by Karl Maria Kertbeny in an 1869 pamphlet calling for the repeal of Prussia’s antihomosexual laws. Homosexual combines the Greek word for "same" — homo — with the Latin word for "sex."
Intersex: People born with both male and female genitals or with ambiguous genitalia. Some people have surgeries, early in life, to definitively assign them one anatomical sex. This surgery does not always result in a physical sex assignment that matches the person’s internal gender. Gender identity issues can result, similar to those experienced by Transgender people.
Lesbian: A homosexual woman. The word derives from the Greek island of Lesbos, where Sappho, a teacher known for her poetry celebrating love between women, established a school for young women in the sixth century B.C. Over time, the word lesbian, which once simply meant someone who lived on Lesbos, came to mean a woman who loved other women.
Queer: Reclaimed by GLBTQ people as an expression of pride. Some identify this way because they feel it encompasses more of who they are, and gives a greater sense of unity with the entire community.
Questioning: Uncertain of one’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Metro Sexual: Loosely defined as a trendy, straight man who lives in a metropolitan area and enjoys pampering himself with things such as manicures, facials, and massages. A man with a keen sense of grooming and fashion.
Pan Sexual: One who exhibits many forms of sexual expression. This includes not only loving both men and women but also transgendered people and gender fluid people who do not feel they fit into categories of male or female.
Same Gender Loving: A term used by some African Americans to refer to their same sex relationships.
Straight: A synonym for heterosexual. Non-gay has gained more acceptance in recent years as a synonym for heterosexual, since straight implies that anyone who is not heterosexual is "bent."
Transsexual: A person who strongly identifies with the opposite sex. Usually includes a desire actually to be the other sex. Most often refers to a person who has had a sex change operation.
Transvestite: Someone who derives sexual pleasure from dressing in clothing generally identified with the opposite sex. The majority of transvestites are heterosexual. Crossdressing that does not include any sexual charge is usually referred to as drag.
Transgender: Relating to transsexuals, transvestites, crossdressers, or anyone who tends to blur traditional gender boundaries.
Two Spirited: Certain Native American cultures describe Transgendered people as having “two spirits”. Generally two spirited people were born into one sex, but took on gender roles of both sexes. This definition somewhat varies across cultures

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Terminology